Privilege notice against Ajit Singh

Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh found himself in the eye of a storm on Tuesday, with the BJP and CPM moving a privilege notice against him in Lok Sabha for his “indiscretion’ in choosing to make policy statements on Air India outside the House while the Parliament session was on.

The uproar in Lok Sabha started during the zero hour, leading to its premature adjournment until 2 pm. The Opposition members persisted on their demand that the minister be summoned to the House to give an explanation.

While BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussian termed his action of speaking on policy decisions outside Parliament as a breach of privilege, CPM leader Basudev Acharya demanded reinstatement of sacked pilots and initiation of talks with their union.